
Eat and drink · Deddington
The Unicorn Inn, Deddington
A Grade II listed inn of the mid 17th century on Deddington Market Place, with open fires, a garden behind, British classics and seven rooms, four of which take dogs.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
A sound base in the middle of Deddington: seven rooms over the Market Place, open fires, a garden at the back and dogs welcome. Mind the hours, because it only opens at 4pm from Monday to Friday and the kitchen is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays. A Saturday lunch or a Sunday roast is the easy way to try it.
- Good: Open fires, and a garden behind with a function room overlooking it
- Good: Rooms 2, 4, 6 and 7 take dogs
- Good: Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options
- Good: A family room overlooking the Market Place
- Worth knowing: No food on Mondays or Tuesdays, and no food after 4pm on Sundays
- Worth knowing: Opens at 4pm on weekdays; the site gives no parking or breakfast details
About
The Unicorn is a Grade II listed inn on the Market Place in Deddington. Historic England dates it to the mid 17th century, remodelled and extended in the late 18th or early 19th. It has open fires and a garden behind. Deddington Castle, the village's grass earthworks, is a short walk away.
The kitchen serves British classics using local suppliers where it can, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options and themed evenings. There are wines to go with the food, plus gins, whiskies and rums, and low and no-alcohol choices. Tables book online.
There are seven en-suite rooms upstairs, from a single over the Market Place to a family room with a double and a single bed and a bay window on the square; one double looks over the garden, and two rooms have old fireplaces that are no longer used. Room 7 has a low ceiling, about 1.9m. Rooms 2, 4, 6 and 7 take dogs, and the inn does not publish a charge. Rooms book online (opens in a new tab), and the Bull Ring Suite, with its own bar and a view of the garden, is for hire.
Times are the thing to plan around. The bar opens at 4pm from Monday to Friday and at noon at weekends; food runs from Wednesday evening to Sunday lunchtime only.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 16, 16:00
| Mon | Opening | Food served |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 16:00 to 21:00 | Closed |
| Tuesday | 16:00 to 21:00 | Closed |
| Wednesday | 16:00 to 22:00 | 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Thursday | 16:00 to 23:00 | 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Friday | 16:00 to 23:00 | 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Saturday | 12:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 21:00 |
| Sunday | 12:00 to 21:00 | 12:00 to 16:00 |
Food served: No food on Mondays or Tuesdays.
The details
- Food
- Pub classics
- Serving
- Lunch · Dinner · Sunday lunch
- Dietary
- Vegetarian dishes · Vegan dishes · Gluten-free dishes
- Rooms
- 7
- Features
- Garden or terrace · Open fire · Restaurant · Bar · Dogs in rooms · Family rooms · Events and meetings
- History
- Mid 17th century, remodelled around 1800 (Historic England)
Photos
Location

Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Quince and Clover On The Square, Deddington 0.0 km away
- The Duke of Cumberland's Head, Clifton 2.4 km away
- The Great Western Arms, Aynho 3.2 km away
- The Pig Place, Adderbury 3.8 km away
Sights nearby
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Deddington Castle
Sight · Castle or ruin · Deddington
Grassy ramparts up to 15m high are what is left of Deddington's Norman castle, which belonged to William the Conqueror's half-brother. Now the village park and sports field, free in daylight, with English Heritage caring for the inner bailey. Earthworks only.
-
Aynho Wharf
Sight · Historic building · Aynho
A canal wharf of 1788 on the Oxford Canal below Aynho, with a warehouse whose roof hangs over the water and a listed stone bridge, and a walk north to the odd diamond-shaped Weir Lock where the Cherwell crosses the canal.
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St Mary's Church, Adderbury
Sight · Church · Adderbury
Adderbury's Grade I church, with a stone spire, a frieze of medieval musicians and grotesques round its aisles, and a chancel built by Richard Winchcombe for New College, Oxford. Open daily and free to look round.
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Adderbury House
Sight · Historic building · Adderbury
A private house in Adderbury and what is left of a mansion of the Earls of Rochester and the Dukes of Argyll and Buccleuch. Most of it was pulled down in 1808, and it was enlarged again after 1891. Grade II and not open. Its old water is now the public Adderbury Lakes.







